Governor Gets Bill to Aid S.D. Homeless

Legislation creating a $3-million pilot project to provide services to San Diego’s homeless was approved by the Assembly on Thursday and sent to Gov. George Deukmejian.

The bill, authored by Assemblyman Peter Chacon (D-San Diego) for the San Diego Homeless Relief Task Force, seeks to augment a program already operated by the county jointly with religious, charity and civic groups, Chacon said.

He said the program would make an official count of the homeless in San Diego and determine how many of them are men, how many are women and how many are children.

The program would also attempt to determine their reasons for being homeless.

But the major purpose of the pilot project, which could be expanded statewide, is to make sure that services already available to the homeless are being efficiently delivered.

“I think this is going to be a model for the state and the country,” Chacon said.

The legislation, if signed by the governor, would require San Diego County to submit a plan by Jan. 1, showing how it will provide coordinated delivery of food, shelter, clothing, transportation and job counseling to the homeless.

Chacon said the Deukmejian Administration has expressed support for the concept but is reluctant to pay for the program out of the state’s regular operating budget, known as the general fund.

Deukmejian’s office could not be reached for comment on the bill after it was approved in the Assembly Thursday night by a vote of 59-18. The bill was approved Wednesday in the Senate on a vote of 27-1.